STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Everyone’s a critic. But the most important food critic these days is my older son, who boo- just entered Kindergarten (boo-hoo).

What will happen at lunch time, I thought in late August? Will his baby fingers be able to figure out how to extract the liquid from his juice box? Will he be able to manage without Mommy? Of course, he will. But, still, a mother can worry about the craziest things.

Taking a proactive approach to the subject, a couple of weeks ago we invested in a lunch box — a soft, squishy one with a liner that supposedly doesn’t harbor smells or bacteria. (I’ll check back with you in late October on that one.)

We did a few trial runs, packing up and bringing food to the park up the block, working on detaching the straw from a juice box, and talking about taking small bites and staying pretty focused on eating. That last matter comes from having worked in cafeterias early in my career: Choking remains one of my biggest fears in a loud, bustling school lunchroom.

Again, I’ll check back with you in a few months as to whether we’ve kept him engaged and appreciative of a brown bag packed with love.

In the meantime, we came across the accompanying recipe (at the very bottom of this post) for a smoked salmon sandwich the adult brown-bagger may enjoy. Perhaps one day when he’s long past the juice box stage, our little man will acquire an appetite for such a sandwich, too. 

Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.

Include a daily note.

This is not an original idea, but an intriguing suggestion that appeared in an article in The New York Times some time back. A friend did this successfully over the years with her little one and, as his reading level advanced through the grades, worked quick riddles or jokes into her messages that he looked forward to greatly.

Tote home the leftovers.

The plan is to emphasize that he should take his leftovers home. This is to check to see what he picked at or didn’t eat — sort of a forensic food accounting, if you will.

Stay away from the stinky.

The goal is not to quell an appetite as soon as the lunch bag is opened. So, there will be no bologna or garlicky salami in the package. Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic of The Washington Post recently wrote about her hatred of bananas, recalling the scent in her lunch box and noting how it “seeped through the plastic baggies.” The pungent odor stayed with her for life and contributed to her becoming (and eventually writing about) a picky eater.

Pack at least one fun food.

That would be fun foods — i.e., fruit snacks, pretzels or Goldfish — that are manageable to open — no Baby Bell plastic/wax wrapped cheeses or foil baggies of crackers. The aim is that he saves the fun stuff for after the main part of the meal.

Go with a smorgasbord.

What will he like, I wonder? So, at first, this kindergartner will be getting a couple of pieces of cheese, a sandwich, a container of pasta, whole fruit like an apple, cut fruit and/or veggies. As the saying goes, if you throw enough pasta against the wall, some of it will stick.

SMOKED SALMON WITH PICKLES

½ English cucumber (about ½ pound), cut into ¼-inch rounds

Kosher salt

Coarsely ground black pepper

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 cup ricotta (preferably whole milk)

¼ cup thinly sliced chives

2 tablespoons capers, chopped

Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon (2 to 3 teaspoons)

8 thick slices crusty pumpernickel bread

4 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon

Combine the cucumber, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1½ teaspoons of pepper in a medium bowl and let the mixture marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add the vinegar, toss to combine and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes.

While the cucumber is marinating, combine the ricotta, chives, capers and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble the sandwiches, spread the ricotta mixture equally on one side of each slice of bread. Top four of the slices with the salmon, then with cucumber slices. Top with the remaining bread slices, cut the sandwiches in half, and serve.